Official Luthiers Forum!

I have some very nice sycamore that a friend sent me, which I've cut into back and side sets. I am planning on making two guitars with it soon - one for him, one for myself.

I'd love to get some opinions as to what type of wood I should use for the top, to complement the sound quality of the sycamore. I've read that sycamore is somewhat similar to mahogany in stiffness (or softness) and in sound. Would the best match be a soft wood, like WRC, or should you try to offset the softness and use a stiffer top wood?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

if you are doing a steel string , any good spruce will do. I would use red or lutz . The sycamore tends to be less bright .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Hi John,

Yes, they are going to be steel string, 00 sized guitars. Actually, I don't really like my guitars to be 'bright' sounding (thinking Taylor here). I like a mellower, more woody, Martin mahogany sound.

I have several types of spruce, and some WRC. Spruce would probably 'look' better, per se, with the sycamore.

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Ken, not a lot of experience using Sycamore here, just the one OM.
So my comment comes from that pool of *one*...but using Sitka on my Sycamore OM was a winning combination. If you don't care too much for the Taylor sound, start thinking more about your bracing pattern, as Taylor gets that "Taylor" sound even from WRC.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thanks, Steve. Sitka sounds like the ticket.

And yes, I think you're right about the bracing tip. So far I've been able to either hit or at least approach the sound I'm looking for in my guitars. The only one that was a little too bright for my taste was the first one, which had 5/16" top braces. I'm building much lighter now, and happy with the results - but still fine-tuning, and looking to improve, of course.

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC